Rwanda: Varsity students urged to utilise overseas study opportunities

The Dutch ambassador to Rwanda, Frederique de Man, and the British Council’s country’s representative, Sheilagh Neilson, have urged Rwandan nationals to utilise the study opportunities in the Netherlands and Britain respectively.

Addressing a press conference recently, Frederique de Man noted that the Netherlands is aware of Rwanda’s need for capacity building and therefore assists Rwanda through several programmes as executed by NUFFIC, a Dutch organisation for internalisation of education, and the Netherlands Fellowship Program (NFP) through the National Alumni Association of Rwanda (NAAR) launched in 2008.

«The number of Rwandan students on scholarship has gone down over the last two years and it’s our wish that our numbers go up again,» she said.

Meanwhile the British Council is also holding university campaigns to sensitise undergraduate students about the study opportunities in the United Kingdom.

Sheilagh Neilson, the country representative of the British Council, says that through the Great Britain campaign, they intend to extend university admission opportunities to Rwandan students to help them improve their skills.

«We love having international students in Britain and it is also good for the countries they are coming from as they go back to further develop their nations. Through information sharing and knowledge management we want to help students acquire knowledge on the opportunities for them to study abroad,» she said.

The British Council is optimistic that Rwanda’s curriculum is progressing and students will be able to meet the required qualification, key among them the ability to communicate in the English language.